Just out of curiosity, if you were on the road for Christmas...

One christmas I made the mistake of being out on the road. This time in Texarkarna. Of all places. There is a old 76 or independant there on the Texas side. My dispatcher issued me a number of comchecks to my pocket over and beyond normal payroll which was pretty good that week and asked me to sit and babysit there for a few days in a hotel no less. The hotel was ok, but the cable tv fare was dirty for lack of a better word, nothing for the mind just rot and filth beamed into the room. Ugh.

I remember that week well. I went to the truckstop to spend my days there. Not many people around. But more staff than drivers resulted in good service, good food and so on.

Lesson, go HOME for the holidays. Or even better, save up 20,000 dollars and go home from October to March. Let someone else sit in a fleabag hotel.

 

i left poly, prob a mistake but i tried to get back on with them without any luck. so after some time off and lookn into buying im back otr company lookn at maybe summer to buy, there are only 2 ways i can do otr anymore and thats either by dispatching myself or at a place like poly, otherwise i would prefer to just go back to local stuff.

 

I spent my first Christmas on the road when I first started driving back in '78. I vowed never again and I have succeeded in that.

About 25 years ago I was "told" I would be out on the road for Christmas, I was in Denver on a Friday before Christmas, was told I'd be laying over until after the holiday, I told them it was unacceptable and that if I wasn't headed home to Florida by the end of the day, I would be check calling the next morning from the house. On Saturday morning I check called from the house. They found out I wasn't BS'ing when they called me right back and I answered. Then I told them I'd be leaving when I got a load assignment. Needless too say, when I went back to get the truck, it was brought back to the terminal and I went on to a new job. This profession has been real good to me over the last 39 years, but one holiday I won't miss is Christmas.

 

I had a problem with a simple 20 dollar comcheck a long time ago 300 miles from house.

Trailer got docked in a truckstop filled with auto tires going to a very large plant due the following morning somewhere in the midwest. Bobtail went home carefully designed to incur a huge multi hundred dollar taxi cost to any company officer with balls big enough to fly to any airport and taxi out to recover bobtail.

I understand it cost millions to get that factory going again after they ran out of tires. All that over 20 #### dollars. Im not sorry It's the principle you see... pay up.

 

LTI did and does. All the holiday meals, up to $50 to include Easter.
And should you want to be home for the holiday, they get you home.

 

I was out for Christmas one year and got pulled into the scales in Umatilla Oregon for a very thorough inspection on Christmas Day.

I was sweating bullets as the DOT officer went through my coloring book with a fine-tooth comb. Not only had I fibbed little bit but I had used three or four boxes of crayons while coloring well outside the lines.

He kept looking at my logbook, looking at the computer screen and then looking back at me. I'm sure he was enjoying the #### out of it. By the time he was done, my neck was twitching like a tweaker who just smoked a whole bag of rocks.

He finally finished up, printed up the report with no violations found and offered me some Christmas cookies from a plate... the #######!

 

We pulled into what I recall as Charlestown East Scales long ago. I was maybe 2 months working a logbook for real otr dedicated team running auto glass between Lexington KY and GM in Baltimore Maryland. (This would be in west virginia somewhere)

We get out. Hand the logs and papers to the inspector. Inspector opens my Logs which was a horrible and unprofessional hash of lines filled out in correct everywhere for the whole month no less with carbons between every page. (Remember the carbon?)

He purpled up glared at me said to trainer when I finish this cigerette.... We were gone at 80 plus by the time we come off the exit ramp of that coop. The next month was all log school in the right seat. That knowledge gained led to other oppertunities in my future when necessary.

 

On my trip to Georgia last week, my dispatcher asked me if I wanted to take a run to Houston after I delivered the load I was on. At first I was going to say yes, but then he told me that, due to the New Year holiday, the consignee wouldn't be open on Monday, and the load would deliver Tuesday morning. That would have meant sitting (probably in Baytown) from Saturday noon to Tuesday 0800.

Once I heard that, I respectfully declined...lol

Like you said, running over a major holiday stinks, but it isn't so bad if you can actually keep running the entire time, but to sit for 60+ hours in a truck stop when I could be home with the family instead, would have probably driven me crazy.

 

$5,000 is barely going to cover a few Court appearances.

 

I got nothing extra for staying out thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Didn't expect anything either as it was my choice to stay out.